


A Bit Of Brotherly Advice

by afteriwake



Series: Meddlesome [3]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Bookstores, Dates, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, F/M, Fluff, Holmes Brothers, Mentioned Anthea/Mycroft Holmes, Mycroft Being a Good Brother, Mycroft's Meddling, POV Sherlock Holmes, Romantic Fluff, Sherlock Holmes Has Feelings, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Fluff, Sherlock is a Good Boyfriend, Sherlock's Heart, Sherlock-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-04
Updated: 2016-05-04
Packaged: 2018-06-06 10:46:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6750877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock is stumped on ideas for dates with Molly, as he’s realized that while he knows facts about her he doesn’t know what she <i>likes</i>, and he gets an unexpected suggestion from Mycroft that works extraordinarily well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bit Of Brotherly Advice

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my 1,050th fic on AO3! I left it open to my Tumblr followers which ship I should write, and **hoppers-moustache** asked for a Sherlolly fic, and so I obliged. This fic is based on a really cool post I saw from Tumblr user **helllianthus** that went " _fun date idea: take me to a used book and music store and we each pick out a cd and a book for the other person. then we go back and listen to the cds with chinese takeout or a pizza or something idk. and then you take me home and I read the book you picked out for me and we talk about what happened in each other’s books on our next date._ " that I want to do so bad but I also thought would make a cute fic, and thus this was born. So please, I hope everyone enjoys!

He knew quite a bit about Molly, or at least he thought he had. But he had come to realize while he knew facts, things _about_ her, he didn’t know what she _liked_. He was absolutely clueless about the things she enjoyed. He had no idea the music she listened to, the films she watched, the television programmes she enjoyed, aside from what he was able to glean when he used her flat as a bolt hole, and even then most of that information had been the few things that had flitted right out of his room for her in his mind palace. He’d soon found himself at a loss for ideas of things to do beyond suggesting dinner.

He was sitting in his favoured chair at Baker Street, pondering what to do about the situation, when he heard the door open and close and he perked up. There had been no press on the doorbell so he doubted it was a client. There had been no call at the door so he doubted it was Mrs. Hudson or John or Mary. That could only mean one thing.

“Mycroft, if you are trying to sneak up here unawares, I already know it’s you,” Sherlock said without moving his head towards the door.

There was a distinct sigh from the vicinity of the stairs. “I had hoped you would be too occupied with whatever was on your mind,” his brother said.

“It is of some importance, but not the utmost importance,” he said. He didn’t look in his brother’s direction. “Tell me what you need of me and then get out. I need to make plans.”

“Of a professional or romantic nature?” Mycroft asked.

“None of your business,” Sherlock snapped.

“Ah. Romantic,” Mycroft said.

Only then did Sherlock glance towards him, and then his eyes widened. Mycroft was not in his usual smart three-piece suit. He was in much more casual wear. Still smartly styled, of course, but considerably more casual for him. “Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Vacation. All part of the elaborate proposal you’ve pushed me into,” he said. “Two weeks on a private resort in Hawaii. Don’t tell Mummy, but I fully intend to marry Andrea before we set foot back in England, before my superiors catch wind of things. _They_ can object, if they catch wind of things, but only if we’re not already married. Hawaii has rather lax rules on these things, and we may...fudge...some details.”

“Congratulations are in order, I suppose,” Sherlock said with a nod.

“Normally I would make you pay dearly for ruining things but, all in all, it’s for the best,” Mycroft said. “She’s six weeks pregnant. We would have needed to marry anyway.”

Sherlock’s eyes widened slightly. “Then I double my congratulations. Does our mother know?”

Mycroft shook his head. “We’re planning to surprise her with news of the pregnancy and nuptials at the same time. Two shocks at once will be easier to take.” He studied his brother. “Are you running into obstacles already?”

He scowled slightly. “For all I know about Molly I know nothing about her,” he said, leaning back into her chair. “I know nothing about her preferences, just…useless facts.”

Mycroft was quiet for a moment. “When Andrea and I first began a romantic entanglement, she surmised I had little experience with dating. She made a suggestion that worked surprisingly well. We were in some backwater village on an assignment that had very little in the way of decent places to eat and absolutely no entertainment, but they had a bookstore and a store that sold used CDs. She suggested we go to both stores and pick out a book for the other to read and a CD that we liked, and find one decent restaurant in the village for dinner, get takeaway and then go to our room and listen to the CDs and eat the food, and then read the books and talk about them later.”

“And did you?” Sherlock asked, intrigued about this tidbit into his brother and soon to be sister-in-law’s relationship.

Mycroft nodded. “We’ve done it quite often in villages and other places where there hasn’t been much in the way of entertainment. We don’t always finish the books while we’re there. Sometimes it takes weeks to finish them. But it’s a way for me to learn more about her tastes, about why she is the woman I love.”

Sherlock pursed his lips together slightly and nodded. “I suppose that could be interesting,” he said. “What did you get that first night? To listen to and for her to read?”

“I picked the Italian and Spanish language version of Andrea Bocelli’s ‘Romanza’ and The Phantom Tollbooth,” he said, looking a bit abashed.

“I remember you used to read that to me at night,” Sherlock said quietly. “You did a particularly good Humbug.”

“Apparently it stuck,” Mycroft said a small smile tugging at his lips. “Anyway, I came to ask you to please keep Mummy and Father occupied while I’m gone. I’ll be completely unable to be reached, so even if the world is ending, no one can reach me. Try not to make any more enemies in the next fortnight?”

Sherlock huffed. “Fine. Be off. I have a call to make.”

Mycroft turned and then paused in the doorway. “You know, at dinner, even without Mummy blackmailing me, I wouldn’t have sabotaged your date. I like Miss Hooper. I think she’ll be good for you, provided you don’t muck things up on your own. And,” he said when Sherlock began to huff angrily, “she will forgive an awful lot. She cares for you greatly. Probably more than you deserve.”

“I suppose,” Sherlock said, his irritation deflating. “As Andrea does for you?”

“Yes,” Mycroft said. “We have been far luckier than we ought to be.” With that, he turned and left.

Sherlock got on his mobile and then looked at the various used CD shops and bookstores in the London area, trying to see if there were any that were in close vicinity to each other. He supposed if he was going to plan a date like this, he’d want something close to Baker Street, or perhaps her flat, if she’d even be game for it. It _sounded_ interesting, in principal, and something she might like, but who knew whether she would go for it? He settled on Daunt Books for the books, but he couldn’t find a place to buy music. In the end, as he _did_ actually have an iTunes account at John’s urging, he decided he would simply let her buy any CD she wanted and they could listen to that while they ate. 

Now came the hard part: finding out if this was a date that interested her.

He went to his contacts and pulled hers up, placing the call. He hoped it didn’t go to voice mail and was rewarded with her picking up on the fourth ring. “Sherlock! What a pleasant surprise,” she said.

“Do you have plans for this evening?” he asked.

“Nothing that can’t be put off until tomorrow,” she said. “Do I get to enjoy your company tonight?”

“If you want to,” he said. “My brother had suggested something, surprisingly, that I thought sounded interesting. Could you meet me at 83 Marylebone High Street when you’re free?”

“Well, that will be in about...” There was a pause. “An hour or so?”

“That would be fine,” he said, relaxing.

“Do I need to dress any certain way?”

“No. It’s a shopping expedition for the first portion of the evening, and then an evening in,” he said.

“That sounds interesting,” she said warmly. “Do I get any hints?”

“It involves books. And later music.”

“Do I get a private concert?” she asked, her voice hopeful.

“Possibly. But I would like to learn a bit more about your tastes, and hopefully tonight I’ll get to do so.”

“This sounds even more fun, then,” she said. “All right. I’ll meet you at that address at six, then. Can you give it to me again, just so I can make sure I have it written down correctly?”

He gave it to her again. “It’s a bookshop called Daunt Books,” he said.

“Oh, me in a bookstore is a dangerous thing,” she said with a soft laugh. “I’ll make sure to stop off at the ATM before I get there, just in case they don’t take a bank card. Well, I’ll be there at six. See you then, Sherlock.”

“All right,” he said before hanging up. He looked at his mobile, still somewhat surprised she had agreed, before moving around the flat and straightening up for her to come over. By the time he was done it was time to head to the bookstore, and he got there mere moments before she did. She came up to him and gave him a quick kiss when she got close enough. He had to admit, that was one thing he quite liked about the change in their relationship. “So, shall we go in?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m fully prepared to spend a small fortune,” she said with a smile.

“Well, at least one of the books you buy tonight is for me to read,” he said as he opened the door for her. “So I can get to know you better. And I shall buy a book for you to read as well.”

“Oh, this will be a treat,” she said, her smile widening. They entered the store and she began to walk around, at first a bit hesitant to move away from him before he made a slight motion for her to go off and explore the store on her own. He’d see her every once in a while, but it wasn’t until nearly an hour and a half later, when the store was about to close, that he saw her struggling to carry a stack of books up to the counter. He helped her before half of them fell to the floor. “So...I _may_ be a bibliophile.”

“I gather that,” he said with an amused grin.

“I already have another two stacks on the counter,” she said, blushing slightly. He glanced and saw nearly twenty books stacked neatly on the counter. When he got closer he saw they were an assortment of fiction, children’s books, medical books and romance novels. She certainly had an eclectic taste. She added her new books but held one to her chest for a moment before handing it to him. “ _This_ is the one I want you to read, though.” 

He took the book from her and then fingered it, seeing it was a fiction book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. “Good Omens,” he murmured, fingering the hardcover book.

“I’ve gone through three paperback copies of that book because I re-read it all the time,” she said. “And I don’t know if you’ll like it. You probably won’t. But it’s one of my favourite books. But you can have this copy, if you like it.”

He nodded, looking at his much smaller stack. Most of his were nonfiction books, mostly things that would help with cases with one or two biographies mixed in. The one exception was now just underneath the book Molly had given him, and he pulled it out to hand to her. “You’ve probably already read mine,” he said.

She looked at him, and then looked at the book and smiled. “Treasure Island,” she said. “Actually, no, I’ve never read it. This will be a treat.”

“Well, once we’ve paid for these, I suppose the next step is figuring out how to get them back to Baker Street,” he said. “And then what to get to eat.”

“We did spend an awfully long time here,” she said, handing him back his book and beginning to take hers back, but he shook his head. “Sherlock?”

“You’re buying so many. I can buy this one,” he said. 

“Are you sure?” she asked.

He nodded. “I’m sure.”

“All right,” she said as the clerk began ringing up her books. She spent substantially more than he did, but she seemed so happy he decided that, perhaps, if the second half of the evening went well they could make this a recurring date. She had seemed to have enjoyed browsing the bookstore and came away with quite a haul, and the contented smile on her face said a lot. Once his own books were paid for they went outside as the shop closed behind them and hailed a cab to his flat. He let them in and they went upstairs and she set her purchases near the sofa. “I’m rather in the mood for Indian, I think.”

“Do you want your usual?” he asked.

“You actually know my usual?” she asked with a grin.

“Well enough,” he said with a nod. “I may not know your taste in films or music or books, but I’ve shared enough meals with you over the years to know your taste in food.”

“Then order my usual,” she said. 

“While I’m doing that, you can do the second portion of the date. Log onto iTunes and pick a CD that you like. Anything at all, even if you think I’d hate it. We can listen to it tonight.”

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “You’ll complain.”

“I want to learn what you like,” he said, moving into the kitchen to the takeaway menus. “I’ll adapt.”

She went over to his laptop. “How about I ease you into things?” she said. “I have a pretty wide taste in music.”

“You don’t have to,” he protested.

“I insist,” she said. “And besides, we’ll put this under ‘expanding your horizons bit by bit.’” Then she paused. “If you like her, you can download some of her other stuff.”

“Her?” he asked, beginning to dial the number for his preferred Indian restaurant.

“Lindsey Stirling,” she said, opening his laptop. She sat down and put his laptop on her lap. “I’m surprised you trust me enough to let me _use_ your laptop.”

“I trust you a great deal,” he said quietly.

“Well, you paid for the book I picked out so I’m paying for her album,” she said, going to the iTunes store. “And don’t argue with me, Sherlock.” The two of them lapsed into silence for a time, the only sound being Molly tapping on the keys of the keyboard and Sherlock placing their order, and then after a little while soon the sound of violin music filled the air. It wasn’t quite violin music he’d heard before, though. Well, in a way it was; it sounded more like what he heard street performers do, except more professional sounding. He came over to Molly as she set the laptop back on the table and then patted the spot on the sofa next to her. “She’s one of my favorites. And if you like her, then I’ll do David Garrett’s albums later.”

“So you’d like to do this again?” he asked, sitting next to her.

She leaned into him, and after a moment, he put an arm around her. “Yes, I would. I don’t need flashy dates. I mean, the dinner dates have been nice, but this has been a lot of fun so far, to be honest.” Then she looked up at him and gave him a wide smile. “And the night’s really only just started.”

“I suppose it has,” he said, giving her a grin of his own. He might not be overly fond of his family meddling in his affairs, but tonight it had worked out for his benefit, and for that, he was eternally grateful...even if he would never admit it to Mycroft.


End file.
